Volume LXXVIII, Number 35
Battlefield State Park Prepares for U.S. Semiquincentennial . . . 5 Hunt Club Buttons Are Focus of NJ State Button Society Show . . . . . . . . 7 PCH to Host Benefit Event as Milestone Year Approaches . . . . . . . . 10 Thoughts About the National Pastime on a Special Day . . . . . . . . 12 PU Men’s Soccer Focusing On Shoring Up Defense As it Girds for Season Opener at Rutgers . . . 23 After Capping Her Mercer Rowing Career at Henley Regatta, PHS Grad, Star Coxswain Zammit Headed To Stanford Crew . . . 28
Travis Petrone Primed to Trigger Offense as PHS Football Opens Season On Friday . . . . . . . . . 27 Art . . . . . . . . . . . .19, 20 Back to School . . . . 16-18 Books . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Calendar . . . . . . . . . . 22 Classifieds . . . . . . . . . 30 Mailbox . . . . . . . . . . . 11 New to Us . . . . . . . . . . 21 Performing Arts . . .13, 14 Real Estate. . . . . . . . . 30 Religion . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Topics of the Town . . . . 5 Town Talk . . . . . . . . . . 6
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Council Passes Resolution Supporting Legislation For Ranked Choice Voting At its meeting Monday night, Princeton Council passed a resolution in support of a bill authorizing the use of ranked choice voting in municipal and school board elections. Sponsored in the state legislature by Sen. Andrew Zwicker, the bill would allow individual towns to adopt the approach through referendums. Council President Mia Sacks read a statement from Zwicker that said, “When it comes to our elections, we know there are existing reforms that can help make them more fair and open, and make political campaigns more friendly. Everywhere in our country that ranked choice voting has been implemented, voter turnout increases, negativity in campaigns decreases, and public discourse is strengthened.” Princeton joins Red Bank, Hoboken, and Jersey City in supporting the measure. “Now is the time to work together to create a system where voters of all backgrounds can feel represented,” Zwicker’s statement concluded. “Ranked choice voting is integral to that system, and the time to do so is now.” Ranked choice voting is a process that allows voters to rank candidates for a particular office in order of preference. In a race where four candidates are running for a single seat, voters rank the candidates 1-4, with the candidate ranked as 1 as being the voter’s highest preference. If a candidate is the first choice of more than half the voters, that candidate wins the election. But if no candidate gets the majority of the vote, the one with the least amount of support is eliminated, and the process continues until a candidate wins more than half the vote. In a statement issued Tuesday on behalf of the Council, Sacks wrote in an email, “Princeton’s local Democratic club, the Princeton Community Democratic Organization (PCDO), which endorses candidates, and the Princeton Democratic Municipal Committee, which determines ballot placement, have successfully used ranked choice voting for local candidates for the last half decade. Princeton Council supports measures such as S1585 that are intended to empower voters and broaden representation in government at the local and state level.” Representatives from organizations such as Voter Choice NJ thanked Council for their support of the measure. Continued on Page 9
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Wednesday, August 28, 2024
PHS Prepares for 2024-25 School Year Princeton High School (PHS) is preparing to welcome about 1,550 students next Tuesday for the start of the 202425 school year, and, along with a large contingent of new students, there will be new staff members, a new cafeteria, a new food service provider, a new roof, new security vestibules, new classroom doors, and more. “It’s been a phenomenally busy summer, primarily because of the construction that’s been going on,” said PHS Principal Cecilia Birge. “We’ve never had so much construction. I’ve been in this building for more than 10 years, but this is the first time I’ve seen that all of the projects are coming to fruition at the same time. We’re 99 percent there.” She pointed out that significant parts of the building had been brightened up and modernized. “The feel of the building has been changed,” she said. “What impresses me this time around is the focus
on delivering a physical space to our students and staff so that our educators can really imagine the different possibilities for teaching.” Birge went on to mention a number of upgrades to teaching and learning as well as to the facilities, and she summed up, “Every single project I have described is going to the core of our operation — making sure that our kids are fed, making sure that our classrooms are a safe space, making sure that taxpayers’ money is used efficiently and effectively.” Even more exciting than the physical changes for veteran PHS social studies teacher Elizabeth Taylor, however, are her plans for two upper level courses: Advanced Placement (AP) U.S. History, always especially interesting in an election year; and Accelerated Sociology, which this year for the first time will be offered as dual enrollment, meaning students will be receiving four credits from The College
of New Jersey as well as the normal PHS credit. Taylor described the sociology course as “life-changing,” for her as a teacher and potentially for her students too. In her 14th year as a PHS social studies teacher and her 10th year of teaching sociology, a course rarely found in high schools, Taylor talked about the value of developing a “sociological perspective” to help understand the unseen patterns that shape society and our lives. “Many of my students tell me it’s the most impactful course they’ve taken at PHS,” she said. “It’s one of their favorite courses. It makes them, and it makes me, view the world in a different way than we were able to view it before.” Birge concurred. “I’ll speak to that as a parent as well,” she said. “My children took the course and it really is lifechanging and mind-changing. The way Continued on Page 8
Former Township Mayor Bernie Miller Remembered Fondly by Colleagues
MOVE-IN DAY: Princeton University Class of 2028 students arrived on campus this past Friday. Fall term classes begin on Tuesday, September 3. Newcomers share what they look forward to studying in this week’s Town Talk on page 6. (Photo by Sarah Teo)
Bernard “Bernie” Miller, who died Saturday, August 24 at the age of 95, served as mayor of Princeton Township and later on the consolidated Princeton Council. Those who worked alongside him in municipal government remember him as a dedicated public servant and mentor. Mayor Mark Freda began Monday night’s Council meeting with a moment of silence in Miller’s honor. “He served this community in so many different aspects so well, for so many years,” Freda said before calling for the tribute. On Tuesday morning, he added in an email, “I admired Bernie and truly enjoyed working and talking with him. He did a lot for our community.” Miller was first elected to the former Township Committee in 2002 before serving as deputy mayor, and then mayor. He was the first Council president when the Township Committee and Borough Council were consolidated in 2013, and remained on Council until 2017. He also served on several boards and commissions related to affordable housing, consolidation, and other issues. “Bernie was a wise and generous mentor to me and many others,” said Liz Lempert, who served with Miller on the Township Committee before becoming Continued on Page 9